Will BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet be faster than the iPad?

When BlackBerry’s PlayBook Tablet emerges early next year, it will boast speeds that will be the envy of its chief competitor, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie said Tuesday.

Balsillie, the CEO of RIM, said he is confident the 7-inch tablet computer will find widespread adoption, particularly among corporate users. Part of the device’s appeal will be its speed, he said, speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit downtown.

“It’s like three to four times faster than an iPad,” Balsillie said, crediting the device’s multi-core processor with its ability to quickly render Web pages and applications.

As evidence, Balsillie pointed to a demonstration video posted by the company on YouTube. In the demo, a prototype PlayBook appears to render some Web pages faster and more smoothly than an iPad.

“Go to You Tube — see it. It runs fast,” he said.

The PlayBook will emerge some time in the first quarter of 2011, Balsillie said. RIM has set internal sales targets for the device, he said, but declined to share them.

“We feel pretty good about pent-up demand,” he said.

Balsillie indicated that technology within the tablet, including its ability to render Flash content, would soon find its way into BlackBerry handsets.